Genocide Vs Terrorism

We have become so accustomed to seeing violence in the movies and in the media but sometimes it is difficult to realize that in many parts of the world this is a very real scenario and we have become desensitized to this and that is a problem. Genocide and terrorism, while both different types of political violence have the result in that it leads to countless innocent deaths. However, what leads to an average person murdering whether it be through genocide or through using terrorism as a means of achieving goals that leaders and murderers have. Genocide and terrorism have wreaked havoc all over the world, terrorism primarily in the Middle East although there have been attacks in the western world, including the United States, France as well …show more content…
It is important to know that genocides are tools of leaders who are already in power so as leaders their objective is to maintain power and if possible become even more powerful and there are many examples of this. In Nazi Germany, we saw Adolf Hitler rise to power in Germany and his wanting to really rule the whole world meant he had to participate in the annihilation of the Jewish people along with other people they considered not to be worthy of living. In Guatemala, we saw the president order the genocidal murder of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Maya and in Rwanda, we also saw the leadership of the Tutsi population call for the genocide of the Hutu population. Although all of these genocides occurred in different areas, they all had one thing in common, the leadership made a calculated decision to start the killings of these people because they saw that it would benefit them and have little cost. In making this calculated decision they used the …show more content…
Like genocide the leaders of terrorist organizations make a calculated decision to create and lead terrorist organizations. They see terrorism as the way to achieve some political goals or even political agency in a world dominated by the west and capitalism. While it is in the self-interests of leaders of terrorist organizations to have them this does not explain why terrorists commit acts of suicide bombings which would not be in their self-interests. Suicide bombings make sense from the leader’s perspective as the individual committing suicide was essentially dispensable and if they were to be caught, they would cost the organization much; Hezbollah used this method and is now very common in terrorist activities. While it is rational for leaders to call for suicide bombers, it is not rational for a person to commit suicide because they do not directly benefit from this, however, we see their culture and beliefs play a part in them seeing this as a good route to make a difference. While any culture can whether it be religious or ideological can turn a peaceful person into a murderous person we will focus on Islam due to its presence in modern day terrorist organizations.